The Awakener
by DaphneTheresaJackson
Summary: REVISED VERSION Gabriella Winnok is hoping for her Senior year at Goode High to be like all others: quiet, being alone and unnoticed. But when she meets Percy Jackson, she is cast into a different world. With school life, new friends, old enemies, finally meeting her father and a prophecy about the fate of the godly world, Gabby's life isn't as quiet as she had hoped. Percabeth OC
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone. Thanks for checking out the story. In case you're new here, my name's Daphne and this is the revised version of my story **_**'Demigod High-School Story: The Awakener'**_**, which you can find on my profile. The story isn't complete but I still update new chapters there as well as posting the revised chapters here.**

**I made quite a few changes to this chapter, and I also combined it with Chapter 2**

**Disclaimer: This is the only time I'm going to say this. I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians**

* * *

**Prologue**

Like all good stories, this one begins on a day that is not so much different than any other. Like all good _demigod_ stories, this one begins on a day that turns out to be as strange and as different as you can get. And, like all good _high-school_ stories, this one begins with a bell.

**Chapter 1**

RING!

I jumped up, jerked awake by the sound of the school bell. My head was in my arms and my books weren't even open. I must have fallen asleep during Mr Simmonds' lecture about the importance of the arts in our everyday lives. I've got two words for you. Bor-ing. But on the up-side, it's the first day of the school year and I've already set a personal record for catching up on lost sleep.

Don't get me wrong, I love school, but it's just so _dull_. Having ADHD and dyslexia doesn't help either. My mind wanders and I end up getting detention for not paying attention in class. It's just teachers rambling on about things that I learned about in eighth grade anyway. And that isn't even the worst part.

I scrambled around, gathering my books and notes and rushed out the door, ignoring the glares of the people that I bumped into, and headed to my last class before lunch, praying that my luck would hold. I had already had my first three classes without causing too much trouble. Okay, maybe I did trip up Emily Syre in first period Greek. I _accidentally _fell asleep while she was trying (emphasis on the _trying_) to pronounce the word _'cat' _and she fell over my leg. But I only got a glare from the teacher; she likes me because I'm the only student that doesn't get the words '_cat' _and '_chair' _up.

Geography wasn't too bad either, apart from when I mixed up Malaysia and Mexico (blame the dyslexia) and in art, Mr Simmonds didn't even notice that I fell asleep. So maybe, just maybe, I would be able to walk down the hall without getting interrupted.

What was I thinking? It's _me _we're talking about.

So I wasn't really surprised when, in her bleached blonde, blue eyed, short skirted, cake-faced make-upped glory, Kayleigh Edwards cut across my path and stood in front of me with her hands on her hips, with her posse glaring at me from the corner. I just glared back.

"What's up, freak?" she sneered. Did I mention that I'm kind of a loser? Apparently looking like an escaped circus freak is perfectly acceptable, but joining the orchestra is social suicide. Who knew?

I feigned shock. "Why, Kayleigh, I didn't know you cared."

"I don't care?" she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Kayleigh has this irritating habit of saying every sentence like it was a question.

I looked at her blankly. "What's the point in asking then?"

I heard a cackle of laughter from the corner in which Kayleigh's followers were standing. I recognized the girl who laughed as Violet. Why she was friends with Kayleigh, I had no clue. Violet looked like she'd belong with the group of goths rather than the cheerleading squad. Her hair was black and closely cropped and she had bright green eyes, a color that I'd normally associate with poison. Rows of silver piercings lines both of her ears and she even had one in both her nose and her eyebrow. To be honest, I'd say that Kayleigh was scared of her, but Violet made sure that no-one messed with _the _Kayleigh Edwards.

I smiled sweetly at Violet and the cheerleaders and turned back to Kayleigh. "Could you excuse me?" I asked. "I'm gonna be late for Algebra. Unless you have something you want to say?"

"Oh, I just wanted to make myself feel prettier by being around someone so ugly?" she mocked.

"Why did you come over here then?" I snapped. "You could have just stayed with your friends. Oh right, even they couldn't make a monkey like you feel pretty. Now, if you could excuse me?"

She didn't respond, so I pushed passed her, books in hand, heading down the hall to another forty-five minutes of hell.

So everyone, welcome to Goode High, New York.

* * *

I sat down in room 113B, in the back row, and begun to take in my surroundings. Scott Davies, one of the jocks, was hitting on Jessica Forrester, which resulted in him getting a slap to the face. I snickered. Scott was one of those..._people_, if you know what I mean. He's arrogant with blonde hair and brown eyes, and knows he's good looking. I hate guys like that. Jessica was cute in a nymph-y kind of way. She has dirty blonde hair and grass-green eyes. She's tall and willowy, with long limbs and slender fingers.

In another corner of the classroom were two of Kayleigh's cronies. One was texting her new boy toy for the week and the other was re-applying her makeup and fixing her hair. Typical. They notice me looking and shoot me a glare.

_Jeez, _I thought. _Anger issues much?_ Toward the front of the room were the geeks, Arnold Ryder, Beverly Morris, Lewis Campbell and Brenda Brooks, were writing a science report and comparing comics or something. It may sound nerdy, but the kids were actually pretty cool. I got paired up with Lewis for an English project in my sophomore year, and since then we've been on friendly terms; nothing major, just a '_Hey' _in the hall and stuff.

Before I could take in anymore, the teacher walked in.

She was a short, black haired woman, who looked about thirty, and introduced herself as Mrs Wright. She silenced whispered conversations and glared at Kayleigh's cronies who were still texting. They rolled their eyes as a _'Whatever' _gesture. God, they are so annoying.

Mrs Wright was just about to begin the lesson, when a boy came stumbling through the door.

"Mrs Wright? Senior Algebra?" The boy asked. Mrs Wright nodded and raised her eyebrow, asking for a reason for him being late to class.

"Sorry I'm late," the boy began, "my flight was delayed this morning." His voice was flat and it was evident that he didn't enjoy the flight. I couldn't blame him. I didn't like them either.

Mrs Wright nodded curtly and said "I'll let this one slide, since it's the first day, but please don't make a habit of it, Mr…" She trailed off, and the boy realized that she was waiting for his name.

"Jackson," the boy said. "Percy Jackson."

"Yes," Mrs Wright smiled. "Don't make a habit of being late Mr Jackson." He nodded. "Oh, and welcome to Goode High. Take a seat beside Miss Winnok, and I will begin my class."

I jerked my head up as I heard my name being mentioned, and I saw the boy walking rather awkwardly in my direction. I gave him a small smile as he sat down. That gave me a proper chance to look at him.

He was tall. Not freaky tall, about the average height of the jocks, and his hair was black. Not dyed black, that was obvious, but a raven black, with what looked like the remains of a gray streak on one side. This puzzled me, but I decided to forget about it.. He also smelled strange. Not the 'oops, I forgot to shower' kinda strange, but more like a natural, familiar smell, like I recognized it from somewhere. I shook my head, dismissing the thoughts.

I turned my attention back to Mrs Wright, because I didn't want to freak _Mr Jackson _out by me staring at him for too long. He probably got that a lot. The guy was quite a looker. Not my type, but cute all the same.

"First, I would like all of you to partner up with the person next to you," I heard Mrs Wright say, "and find out about each other. Then, write about 500 words on yourself and your partner. For homework, I'd like you all to write about your opinion of, and your relation to mathematics, particularly algebra. You have the rest of the lesson to complete what you can. This is due in our next lesson. You may begin."

Chatter immediately broke out among my class, and I turned to Percy and held out my hand to shake. I normally wasn't this forward with people, but considering that he was a new student, I decided that I should probably take the chance to befriend him while I had the chance.

"Gabriella Winnok," I said as he took my hand. "Call me Gabby."

"Percy Jackson," he replied with a smile. We locked eyes, and they were the most unusual colour that I've ever seen. They were green. Not green like grass like Jessica Forrester's, or mould green like Aidan Sawyer's, who's in my Gym class, but sea-green. Bright, confident, and deep. I could tell that _Mr Jackson_ was a special person.

I figured that we had better get to work on our 'project', so I began with a simple question.

"So, is this your first year at Goode?" I asked. "I don't think I've seen you around before."

He smiled and replied, "No, I was here for my sophomore year, but was transferred last year because of some," he paused for a couple of seconds. "Family issues."

I nodded and I snapped my fingers as realization dawned on me. "Oh, I remember you! You were on the swim team."

He laughed and his eyes brightened. "Yeah, I love the water, it helps me think. My mom says that I take after my dad."

"How so?" I asked.

Percy looked down and he smirked, "He's a marine biologist."

Percy explained that he doesn't really see his dad very often, because his parents had separated after he was born. I noticed that he didn't seem troubled by that.

"You don't seem to mind that he left. Doesn't that bother you?" I questioned. My own father had left my mother before I was born, and I have resented him ever since.

Percy smiled and shook his head. "I was angry with him until I was about twelve years old until I met him for the first time. It turns out he had very good reasons. I see him quite often now and you can say that we're pretty close."

"Wow," I smiled. "My father left my mom before I was born. She never talks about him, and I've never met him. I hate him for leaving. I don't understand why it was so hard for him to stay."

When I mentioned not having met my father, Percy seemed surprised and a little shocked. He looked like he was processing what I had just said, and he put on a confused face, like was having a debate in his head.

I could tell that an awkward silence was about to grace us with it's presence, so I decided to get on with the project.

"So," I said, rather loudly. "We should probably get to work on this project. Tell me something interesting about yourself."

Percy's eyebrows furrowed and he thought for a moment before answering: "My middle name is Andrew."

I raised an eyebrow. "No it isn't. You made that up."

"Yes," Percy replied. "Yes I did."

"So tell me something true so I can write this stupid essay!" I said, exasperated.

"Okay," Percy replied. "I have ADHD and dyslexia."

I smiled. I was kinda relieved that he had ADHD and dyslexia, because I did too. People didn't often understand how hard it is to be dyslexic.

"I'll tell you something about myself," I said. "I do too."

I silently hoped that he hadn't been making up that he had ADHD and dyslexia as well. Because that would be embarrassing, but there was no use denying it now.

But all Percy said was 'Wow, I never would have guessed' and that was the end of that.

"Tell me something else," Percy said. "Are you in any school clubs?"

I rolled my eyes. "You'd never catch me in a club. I find that the less contact I have with the rest of the student body, the easier my life will be." I thought for a moment. "But I am in the orchestra though. I play the violin."

"That's really cool," Percy smiled, actually sounding interested. "What made you take up music?"

I looked down at my paper and my smile faded. "I've always liked music, I suppose. Someone gave me a violin in eighth grade and I've been playing ever since."

Percy opened his mouth to say something. I really hoped that it wasn't anything else about my violin. It was a sensitive subject for me.

However, whatever Percy was about to say was cut off my the teacher.

"Alright everyone," Mrs Wright said. "That's enough chatter for now. Work on your project _silently _from now on."

There were grumbles and protests from the class but the noise level dropped to no more than a whisper.

Before he went back to his work, Percy said, "Hey, do you want to, I dunno, hang out? I need someone to get me up to speed."

"Sure," I replied. "It'll give me something to do."

The two of us worked in silence until the bell rang. I grabbed my books, looked back at Percy, and we walked to the cafeteria together.

I found out a lot about Percy Jackson in that short time. He loves his mother, has been going to a camp on Long Island since he was twelve. He is obsessed with the ocean, and anything that has to do with water. He is a loyal friend and a hard worker.

As we walked down the halls, I noticed that lots of the girls were staring at him and giggling to their friends, while the guys on the football team seemed to be sizing him up, probably working out if Percy was going to be future competition. But Percy seemed completely oblivious to the attention.

I wondered if Percy had a girlfriend. He probably did, seeing as though he got the attention of almost the entire female population of the school grounds in less than an hour and a half. I didn't want to bring it up though, because then he might ask me if I had a boyfriend. I'd only ever had one but I caught him cheating on me, so I don't really like bringing that up.

Percy and I stopped off at my locker on the way to the cafeteria and I tried to shove my algebra textbook in along with all the mess that had collected over the day.

I turned to Percy. "Can I see your schedule?" I asked.

"Huh?" He asked, obviously confused. I rolled my eyes.

"Your _schedule_," I replied, "you know, that piece of paper that tells you what classes you have?"

"Oh," he smiled sheepishly as he pulled a crumpled up piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to me.

"Honestly," I said, as I compared our two a timetables, "what's in that head of yours? Water?"

He laughed and said, "That's what my girlfriend says. She calls me Seaweed Brain."

I closed my locker and we continued our walk to the cafeteria. Which was on the other side of the school. So naturally, I kept up the conversation.

"Ooh," I smiled as I nudged his arm and handed him back his schedule, "Percy's got a girlfriend! What's she like?" I teased.

He grinned. "Her name's Annabeth Chase, she's from California."

I frowned. _A California Girl? Really?_ There were some girls from California here at Goode at they were all on the cheerleading squad. I couldn't imagine Percy being the type of guy to date a cheerleader. I scrunched up my nose just thinking about it. Percy just laughed.

"Annabeth isn't like anyone you've ever met before, I can tell you that," he said. "Anyway, she only lived in San Francisco until she was seven. She's tall and has curly blonde hair and grey eyes." Percy's eyes seemed to almost glaze over. "Gods, I love her eyes."

I smiled at this. It's not every day that you get a boyfriend that rambles openly about how much he loves you. But he didn't stop there. He talked and talked about everything about her. Her fear of spiders, the way her hair smells like lemons and how her mom hates him.

"...and she's the smartest person I know. She loves architecture and her dream is to go to Greece and see the Parthenon."

"Wow," I nodded, impressed. "She must really be something. How long have you been dating?"

"About two years," Percy replied proudly, obviously impressed with himself. I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"Yeah, we got together on my sixteenth birthday," Percy explained. "She kissed me after I tried to ask her out." He looked down sheepishly and a light blush tainted his cheeks. I could tell that Percy probably wasn't the smoothest when it comes to asking out girls. I laughed as I imagined the situation.

"So, when did you meet?" I asked, eager to find out more.

"I met her when we were twelve, on my first day at summer camp. The first thing she said to me was _'You drool in your sleep'_," he said. "We hated each other. I thought she was totally uptight, and she thought I was an idiot." He smiled, but it quickly turned into a frown.

"Come to think of it, I don't think her opinion has changed at all."

I laughed. "She sounds wonderful. I hope I get to meet her."

"So do I," Percy said, "you'd love her."

"I'm sure I would," I smiled.

Percy smiled back as we opened the doors to the cafeteria and were greeted by absolute chaos.

Shouts and laughter could be heard, and students were running around like a bunch of untrained monkeys.

_Oh great,_ I thought, _I was right. Another year of living hell._

Percy's eyes widened when he saw the array of students pretty much bouncing off the walls, so I grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the food, which seemed to cheer him up.

As I walked away with my chicken burger, water and chocolate-chip cookie, I looked back at Percy, who was pleading with the lunch lady.

"Can you _please_ make it blue?" he whined, "please, please, _please_?"

_Blue coke? _I thought. _What's wrong with this kid?_

But Lunch Lady held her ground and Percy walked away, grumbling, looking at his coke with distaste. I decided not to bring up the _blue food_ situation, and he stood by me, looking around the cafeteria.

"Who do you normally sit with?" he asked.

"Oh," I said, blushing, "well, I don't really have any proper friends. I normally sit outside, um, by myself."

He looked surprised. "You don't have _any _friends?"

I scowled and looked down at the floor in embarrassment.

"Well," he smiled, "we can have no friends together. These people are idiots anyway."

I smiled at him gratefully. "You can say that again," I muttered as two freshmen kids ran headfirst into each other. _That had gotta hurt._

Percy and I sat down in my usual spot under the big oak tree, and I questioned Percy about his love of blue food. He explained how, when he was young, his mother, Sally, was married to a total douche named Gabe Ugliano. Apparently, he treated Percy and his mother badly, and he believed that food could not be blue. So, just to annoy Gabe, Mrs Jackson made all food blue.

"Is your mom still married to Gabe?" I asked after Percy had finished his story.

He smiled, like there was some personal joke he wasn't sharing. "No, we got rid of him _long_ ago. When I was fifteen, mom married Paul."

"Paul?" I asked.

"Paul Blofis," he replied. I was a bit, to say in the least, perplexed. His mom married his English teacher? But Percy continued. "Mom met him at one of her business conferences. She's an author. That's how I got into Goode actually. Paul offered me a place and I accepted. I was running out of places to go. This is the only school I've been able to stay at for over a year. I've been expelled from all the others."

I certainly didn't expect that. Percy didn't seem like a bad-boy. He seemed too nice.

_How could a guy like that get expelled from so many schools?_ I wondered.

Mind you, this is my fourth school. I left the first after my principal attacked me. It was in third grade, and I still don't understand that. Everyone said that I was hallucinating, that Mr Wilson couldn't possibly have a goats head, but I still have a scar on my left shoulder to prove it.

That day when I came home from school, mom pulled me out and we moved from my original home in Washington to Idaho. After that, I have moved inter-state to, obviously, New York, and Goode is the second school I've been to here.

Once again, the school bell jarred me away from my thoughts. Percy helped me up and we walked to our last period of the day, Study Hall, to work on our 500 words for Mrs Wright.

* * *

Percy slammed his locker, which was about five down from mine, and we walked out of Goode together in a comfortable silence.

We reached the student parking lot and I asked, "Do you have a car?"

He nodded, "Although you can't really call it a car. It's a piece of rusty crap on wheels."

I laughed and he asked me how I get home.

"I usually walk or take the bus," I shrugged.

Percy smiled and said, "Well, do you want a lift?"

"In your piece of rusty crap on wheels?" I said skeptically. "Sure, why not."

He laughed and we walked to his car. I noticed girls glaring at me. I shrugged it off and we drove away in Percy's car, with it hiccupping every now and then.

We held a quiet conversation, and he asked me about my life. I explained how I've moved all over the country with my mom, Sarah Winnok. I also told him about the third grade incident with my principal, but left out the part about the goats head. He seemed shocked, and put on his _deep-thinking face,_ which doesn't suit him at all. It looked like he was having another debate in his head, but one side was definitely more dominant.

I began to feel a bit awkward, so I asked him about how he got expelled from so many schools.

He chuckled. "Well, in eighth grade, I had to leave because I had to go interstate for the rest of the school year, and in seventh grade, I accidentally torched the gym."

I gasped, shocked and he smiled, "I didn't _actually _torch the gym, some visiting students did, but I got blamed. Again."

I still wasn't quite reassured. Then something clicked into place.

"You're the kid who set fire to the music room during the orientation!" I exclaimed, suddenly remembering a boy with messy black hair and green eyes running out of the school grounds, closely followed by, wait, Rachel Elizabeth Dare? _I'll have to ask him about that later._

"Yeah, that was me," Percy said. "But believe me, that wasn't the worst thing that's happened."

He told me about the other times he's been expelled, like sixth grade when he got into a fight with a girl named Nancy Bobofit, fifth grade, when he got in an accident with a Revolutionary War cannon _("I wasn't aiming for the school bus! Honestly!")_, and in his fourth grade school when they took a tour of the Marine World shark pool and his class went on an unexpected swim.

I laughed at the last one, and I realized that we had arrived at my house.

"Thanks for the ride," I said as I opened my door and begun to walk up the steps to my house, "see you tomorrow."

He waved and drove away, and I opened my door thinking about him. _Percy is the strangest person I've ever met,_ I thought, _but I like him._

I dumped my bag in my room, crashed on the couch and closed my eyes. I was exhausted, which surprised me. I guessed that it was hanging around with Percy all day.

_Who knew that making friends takes up so much energy? _

I smiled and kicked my feet up. Then, I simply fell asleep.

* * *

**Thanks again for reading this. I always appreciate feedback, so all reviews are welcome. If you're here from the original story, take note of the slight changes. I will be changing the sequence of events so make sure to keep up!**

**I'll see you all soon!**

**Kisses, Daphne**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again,**

**I do hope you are enjoying this story. If you are, let me know!**

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**Chapter 2**

I sat down at the dinner table next to my mom, Sarah Winnok.

She's an amazing person, really, even if I don't see her much. She grew up in Florida but moved to New Jersey to go to college. That's where I was born. My mom had me just after she left college, where she received a Masters of Medical Science degree. My father left a month before I was born; mom said he had to go, and she understood his reasons. I don't see any reason for him to leave though. Parents shouldn't leave their kids. She never saw him again.

My mom says that I look a lot like him. My dad, I mean. Mom says that I have his hair, long and dark, but I have her loose curls that end up being more wavy than curly. She also says that I have his personality; confined, cunning, resourceful and misunderstood. But she doesn't know where I got my eyes from. They're a rather interesting shade of amber, almost gold. Mom says that in the light, they shine different colors, like rubies and emeralds but I don't believe her.

My mother, on the other hand, has warm violet-blue eyes and greying strawberry-blonde hair. She's tall and thin, with an angular, inquisitive yet kind face. She works two jobs, one at a lab during the day, and another at the local Wal-Mart at night, so I don't see her much. She doesn't work on weekends though, so we have lots of mother-daughter bonding time. We have dinner together, because that's the only time I see her _all day_.

Mom looked at me and asked, between bites of spaghetti, "How was your first day of senior year Gab?"

I smiled, but didn't quite know what to tell her, "Well, I'm in Miss Garcia's homeroom, and I have her for History and Geography. First period was English; Mr. Blofis is really cool. He makes it _fun. _He knows how to deal with dyslexic kids."

"That's great. You didn't have Greek today then?" Mom asked. She never taught me, but I've always had a knack for the Greek language. It was strange at first, never having studied it, and yet being able to struggle through the original _Odyssey _with the same difficulty as reading English, even with my dyslexia_._ Basically, I could stumble over a few lines without my head exploding. Now, I can almost speak – and read – it as a second language. I think it's pretty cool.

"No, that's fourth period tomorrow," I replied. I finished telling her about my morning, but stopped after I finished my story about Kayleigh.

"Is something wrong?" Mom asked me, "You shouldn't let Kayleigh get to you."

"No, it's not that," I replied, "I just met this really strange guy in Algebra."

"Oooooh," she said, nudging my shoulder. Mom has this idea that whenever I mention a guy, I automatically have a crush on him. It gets really annoying sometimes.

"Urgh!" I groaned, rolling my eyes, "I don't _like_ him Mom, besides, he has a girlfriend."

She shrugged, obviously not convinced. I decided to ignore it and finish telling her about Percy.

"His name's Percy Jackson, he's that kid who set fire to the music room during the orientation to Goode." Mom's eyes opened wide when I mentioned this, I just rolled mine, expecting this reaction. I waved it off. "He didn't do it on purpose. He's really weird though. He has ADHD and dyslexia too. He loves his mother more than anything and she makes Percy's favorite food, blue cookies."

Mom definitely hadn't been expecting that. She looked at me, eyebrows raised, but I waved my hand and said "Long story. _Anyway_, he's been going to a camp on Long Island since he was twelve. He is obsessed with the ocean, and anything that has to do with water. His girlfriend's name is Annabeth Chase and he met her on his first day at that camp. Apparently they hated each other. They got together on his sixteenth and have been together ever since."

I looked over to see Mom's reaction to my story. She looked like she agreed with me about the _weirdness factor._

"You did say _blue_ cookies didn't you?" she asked. I laughed and took my empty plate into the kitchen and I could hear Mom muttering to herself. _Blue cookies? Who eats blue cookies?_ I shook my head and went upstairs to finish my algebra homework.

* * *

I was lying on my bed with my earphones in, listening to some _Imagine Dragons _on my iPod and thinking to myself. Three guesses what I was thinking about. Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Yeah, I was thinking about Percy Jackson. And Rachel Dare.

_I need to ask him about her,_ I thought._ I haven't seen her since sophomore year. _

I was trying to recall where she moved to. I couldn't remember the name of the school, but I knew it was a fancy academy that her father sent her to. I honestly couldn't imagine Rachel acting as a 'young lady' like her father had planned and she probably hated it there. Thinking about her now made me slightly sad, like I missed her, which was strange because I didn't usually get attached to people enough to miss them.

Before she left, Rachel was the only person who was remotely nice to me. I didn't know her very well, but she kept me company during lonely lunchtimes. But, she left.

_But Percy might still be in contact with her,_ I thought.

My thoughts drifted to Annabeth Chase as the song changed to Taylor Swift's _Teardrops On My Guitar_. I really hoped I'd meet her. Percy seemed to really love her. _I wonder if she'd like me? _I was pondering whether or not we'd become friends (but I didn't want to get my hopes up), when I heard a knock at my bedroom door.

The door opened to reveal my mom in her pink fluffy dressing gown that I got her for Mother's Day last year. I took out my earphones as she sat next to me on my bed. I looked at her and she smiled.

"I'm so glad that you're finally making friends Gabby," she said. "You need someone to talk to that isn't your mother."

I smiled at that. As much as I loved my mom, there are some things that I can't talk about with her. I mean, everyone feels uncomfortable opening up to their parents, and even though Mom and I have a really stable relationship, I can't tell her everything. Although, I cann_ot_ imagine talking to Percy about shopping or the cuteness factor of Harry Styles' butt.

"Yeah," I smiled. "I'm finally getting a social life." The last part was slightly sarcastic, but mom didn't seem to notice. I paused, not really sure what to say next, but continued by saying "and really, of all the people I _could _be friends with, I'm actually glad it's him."

Mom frowned, deep in thought. It must have come as a shock to her; her daughter's first _actual_ friend is a guy. Not just a guy, but a very cute guy. I'm just saying.

As if to prove a point, Mom said "So tell me more about your friend. What was his name again?"

"Percy," I replied. "His mother's name is Sally Jackson and his parents separated after he was born. Apparently his dad is a marine biologist, but Percy didn't meet him until he was, what, twelve?"

I felt a lot of different things when I said this. My own father left in the exact same manner but, unlike Percy, I have never met him. I don't even know what he looks like; Mom has no photos of him and if she did, she never showed me. I smiled grimly, imagining what I would do if I met him. I'd probably shout at him and scare him to death or run at him and hug the life out of him. Nah, I'd probably just tell him to go to hell.

"Gab? Gabby. Hello?" Mom was waving her hand in front of my eyes. I turned to face her, snapped out of my gaze.

"Hmm?" I smiled sheepishly. I need to stop doing that.

"You tuned out again," Mom said. She cocked her head to one side trying to read my expression, her curly hair framing her face like trees from a picture book. In the dim light I could see the lines on her aging face. She was only forty-one, but she looked so much older. I looked into her eyes and could tell that she knew what, more importantly who, I was thinking about.

After a minute of silence she tried to reassure me by saying, "Don't worry, you'll see him one day. Then it will all make sense."

Mom could tell that this wasn't a topic that I wanted to talk about, so she asked me what Percy was like.

I replied by saying "Well, Percy's kinda hard to describe. He seems loyal. Heck, he must be loyal, he and his girlfriend have been going out for _two years_. Most of the kids at school can't hold a relationship for more than two _weeks_."

"What else?"

"He's got a stupid sense of humor but seems very emotional which is strange, but nice. When I was talking to him, he always knew what to say; he says the right things at the right time, like he actually cares about someone else's feelings."

Mom nodded in approval. She knew I hold grudges and am often too quick to judge people. I will admit, I'm quite prejudiced. When Mom first mentioned this, I told her _'I'm not prejudiced, I just hate everyone equally.'_

I couldn't think of what else to say, so I shrugged my shoulders and said "Well, that's about it."

Mom was shocked. "You haven't told me what Percy looks like yet!"

I frowned. I wasn't sure what image she had in that mind of hers, but I was sure that it wasn't even close to what Percy actually looked like. She probably either pictured a leather jacket wearing, motorbike riding bad-boy because of the whole 'torching the music room' episode, or a shy, sensitive happy-go-lucky tree-hugger because he has a stable girlfriend and actually shows human emotions.

"He's tall," I began, feeling a bit awkward not that Mom will find out that he's actually cute. "But when I say 'tall' I don't mean freakishly tall or anything. The top of my head goes to just above his chin."

"What else?" Mum asked. _God, she's really getting excited isn't she,_ I thought to myself.

"He's a swimmer, so he's quite athletic looking. He's not muscle-man or a string-bean either though. He's got a light tan and messy hair. Black hair. But I think it's just naturally like that. He smells of something that seems so familiar but I can't quite put my finger on it."

"You notice how he smells?" Mom asked, amused. "You know how he _smells_?"

I rolled my eyes, "You would too if you sat next to him all day."

I thought about all the other things I could say about him, like his confident, yet wary stride, or the angle of his shoulders that makes him look like he's about to whip around to defend himself against an attacker. Or I could talk about the emotions in his eyes, like he knows more pain and loss in eighteen years than I will know in my entire life.

I looked at Mom and noticed her processing what I had said. To break the silence, I said two words. "His eyes."

Mom looked at me. "What?"

"His eyes. They're green. Sea-green. Very strange, like the color masks something bigger."

Mom looked at me strangely. "Are you _sure_ you don't have a crush on him?"

"I'm _positive,_" I replied. "He's not my type. Although, I don't know what my type is yet."

As she squeezed my shoulder and rose from the bed, she said softly, "Don't worry Gabriella, you'll find out someday."

I smiled, kissed her cheek and said good-night. At that same moment, I remembered something from a holiday that my mom, my aunt and I went on when I was young.

I couldn't have been older than six. I was at the beach and I danced around in the waves while my mother watched cautiously. I ran back to her and felt the sand between my toes. A second later, the wind picked up and whipped my hair around me like long, dark ribbons against my pale skin. The salty air hit my face and I took a deep breath in.

I opened my eyes just as Mom was about to close my door.

"Wait!" I called.

She turned around, confused at my sudden outburst.

"That's it," I said. I paused, wary about what I was about to disclose. "His eyes…like seaweed. He's like a wave; untamed and unpredictable. And the ocean." I said, looking at my mother's confused face. "That's what he smells like. The sea."

I wasn't sure what to expect when I looked into Mom's eyes. Maybe confusion, maybe amusement. But I saw something completely unexpected, an emotion that I'd never seen her face bear.

When I looked into her eyes, I saw fear.

* * *

_I was cold._

_Too cold._

_Darkness surrounded me like a blanket. Suffocating me. Closing in. A tearing feeling, like claws ripping at my chest. A piercing scream split through the silence as sharp as glass._

_The pain._

_The fire erupting in my head, tearing my head apart._

_I saw the light. A flicker of heat in the murderous cold. The claws still tearing at my back, blood dripping down my spine. Pain. Hurt. Distress. I open my eyes and try to move my feet. They were numb, dead to sensation and I stumbled._

_I couldn't move; I was stuck to the floor. I turned my head, trying to catch a glimpse of my attacker but to no prevail. I was blind. My heart beating in my chest was the only indication that I was still alive._

_But not for long._

_The light was gone. And its absence left me with the ghost of the little warmth that that light provided._

_it left me alone_

_i was alone_

_alone with no hope_

_alone with no courage_

_alone_

_I was falling_

_I was cold_

_I was alone_

_I couldn't remember what it was like to be warm_

_I was bleeding_

_I was dying_

_I_

_was_

_alone_

_gone_

_cold_

_Gone…_

_I sat up in a rush of panic and distress and found myself in a pile of leaves. I was surrounded by trees that were clad with leaves the color of gold and every shade of red and crimson and every hue of yellow. The sun shone through the canopy above, sending liquid light down in ribbons of heat. I looked around and held out my hand to catch a stray leaf. It dropped into my waiting hand;_One happy day for every falling leaf you catch_. I stood up and brushed myself off and begun to take in my surroundings._

_I looked to my right and saw a girl with jet black hair. She was wearing silver jeans and a silver parka and her eyes were shut in sleep. She radiated power. In-human power. Her hand rested on a circlet, like a tiara, and a strung bow and a quiver of arrows. On the other side of her sleeping form was a boy. His skin was pale and he looked young, about fifteen, but people always look younger in sleep. His body swam in a black aviator's jacket that was about two sizes too big. He barely moved or breathed, as if he was on the border between the living and the dead. On his finger was a ring in the shape of a skull. Rubies were embedded in the sockets of the eyes, staring out at me in a way that was not possible for any human to accomplish._

_Shivering, I turned away from the boy and turned to my left. I jumped in surprise as I recognized the sleeping form of Percy Jackson. Even in slumber he seemed alert, prepared for attack. His eyebrows furrowed together as he mumbled something under his breath. He shivered and rolled over. His T-shirt was orange, once bright but faded by continuous washing. The right sleeve was torn and the side was stained with what I prayed was Kool-Aid. There was writing printed on top of the dull orange color which I read as three simple words: Camp Half-Blood._

_I felt no recollection of ever seeing those words before, but I felt a connection, like it was a coded message that I didn't understand._

_A single name formed on Percy's lips: _Annabeth_. He whispered her name over and over again, as if chanting that word would somehow bring her to him._

_A noise behind me made me whip my head around, searching for the source of the offending sound. I saw nothing but the golden leaves twirling around in the crisp Fall air._

_I took a step forward. Cautious. Alert. I took another step. And another. There was no sun now. Just the empty promises of the night._

_I worked my way through the trees, pushing branches out of my path, my feet scuffing against upturned tree-roots and fallen leaves._

Stop_. A voice in my head commanded me. I obliged and stopped in my tracks. I turned around in circles, searching for the source of the speaker._

_The wind. A gust of it attacked my body like frozen knives, pricking and scraping at my exposed skin. I gasped as frost began to form on the back of my neck. I tried to call out. Call out to Percy. Call out to someone. Anyone. But the icy gale stole my screams before they were even formed._

_I turned around, looking for the sleeping bodies of Percy and the boy and the girl, but they were not there. In the distance, I heard mangled screams loud and shrill enough to wake the dead. I tried to run but an unknown force held me back._

Stop_. The voice repeated its command. _You stand alone. _Alone. The word stuck out from the others and rung in my ears like it had hidden meanings. And not in a good way._

You are power. You will stand down. You will not fight, else those closest to your heart will pay for your mistakes.

_My heart raced as the voice took over my mind, penetrating my thoughts until there was nothing else. Destroying all independence. Taking away my one freedom._

Sleep, _the voice ordered me. _Don't fight

_i couldn't fight_

_It was my voice_

_Torturing pain_

_screams echoed through the silent forest_

_Help_

_this time, the screams were mine_

_Please_

_begging for it to end_

_I_

_can't_

_hold_

_on_

**So there you have it, folks. Don't forget to drop a review.**

**Kisses, **

**Daphne**


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, here we are. **

**This chapter is a combination of chapters 5, 6 and 7. I hope you all enjoy it!**

**A special dedication to my first two reviewers, **princessanastasiaromanov464 **and **LittleMissBookwormBraniac**.**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Every sunrise signifies a new day. A new light, a new hope. Stuff that. All a sunrise means to me is another seven hours of dodging death. Evil witches in short skirts and high-pitched squeals trying to cast their spells on you, old hags droning on and on with their rasping voices that make my ears bleed and ogres blundering around in football jerseys with the intelligence lower than their shoe size. It's survival of the fittest at this prison.

Okay, school isn't _that _bad. Psh, it's only the second day.

Before I did anything this morning, I sat on the edge of my bed, looking at a raven that had perched itself on a branch outside my window. I was thinking about my dreams. Even now, with the sun streaming in through my window, I had the urge to look under my bed and in my closet to look for any monsters preparing an attack.

But I didn't. Instead, I showered, singing in the hot water with my voice resonating on the tiles. I liked to sing, even if I didn't do it often. I attempted to dry my hair, but it remained its usual stubborn self; refusing to cooperate with me at all.

I pulled a black T-shirt over my head. It was one of those where it has a heart monitor and the line goes still in the middle before it starts squiggling again. Underneath, it says _Sorry, for a minute there you bored me to death._ I put on a pair of ripped skinny jeans. The tears were from when I got attacked by a dog. I swear that dog had rabies. Or maybe it was a mutant. Dogs don't usually have fangs do they?

I tied my hair back in a messy sort of ponytail and clipped the fly-aways back with red bobby-pins. I hopped down the stairs, trying to put on my red converse at the same time. _Note to self: never try to put on shoes while hopping down the stairs unless you _really _want a broken neck._

Like usual, Mom had gone to work, so it was just me. I popped some bread in the toaster and stuffed my homework in my bag. I took my phone of the kitchen bench and checked the time. _7:23. That gives me enough time to get to school and check out today's classes. _I chucked it in the front pocket in my bag just at the time ticked over to 7:24.

I grabbed the now toasted bread out of the toaster before it looked too much like charcoal and stuffed it in my mouth, ready to run out the door. Who knew how long it would take for me to walk. I have a reputation of getting easily distracted. I was just turning off the radio, which had been turned on to some Indie Rock station by Mom earlier this morning, when I heard a car horn honk outside the front of the house.

I grabbed my violin, which was sitting in its case in the hall, walked out the door, locked it, and turned around to face the piece of rusty crap on wheels itself.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Percy, who had just unlocked the passenger-side door, waiting for me to get in.

He shrugged and replied simply, "I figured you might want a lift."

I smiled and opened the door of his car and was greeted with the smell of freshly baked cookies.

"Good morning," I said as he pulled out of the driveway. "I didn't figure you'd be up this early."

He shrugged again and said, "Mom was baking this morning and that always wakes me up, and Paul always gets up early so he can get to school early and mark essays of whatever teachers do."

"Speaking of baking, what can I smell?"

"Oh, that would be these," Percy said as he stopped at a traffic light, reached behind into the backseat and produced a paper bag, grinning his lopsided smile. He opened the bag and reached in to grab its contents, which turned out to be some very odd looking cookies.

"They're blue," I noted. "Your Mom's?"

"Yeah," he said, "I thought that you might want to try one." He handed me the bag and I warily took a bite out of the blue cookie.

"Oh. My. God," I said as I finished swallowing my first bite. Percy flinched as I finished saying this, like he was expecting lightning to strike the car or something, but his expression switched back to his goofy grin. I handed him back the paper bag as I said, "This is the most amazing thing I've ever eaten and believe me, I've eaten a lot of cookies in the past eighteen years."

Percy smiled, "I told you you'd like them."

"Yeah, you were actually _right._"

"Always the tone of surprise," Percy grumbled as he handed me back the paper bag. "You can have the rest, I've got more." I raised my eyebrows. _How many cookies does this boy eat?_

"Mom makes a batch every day, so we have plenty to spare," Percy stuck _another_ cookie in his mouth as we turned into the school parking lot.

"But by the way you eat, it seems to me like there _aren't _any to spare," I laughed.

Percy laughed with me. He glanced at the back seat where I had placed my violin.

"What's the case for, Gabby?" he asked me. "You haven't got any lethal weapons stashed in that case, have you?"

"No, you idiot," I laughed. "That's my violin. I have Orchestra this morning."

"Cool," Percy said, turning into the student car park. "Well, here we are."

Percy pulled into an empty space near the school entrance, parked the car and jumped out with a bit too much enthusiasm. As we walked up the front steps, he seemed to have an extra spring in his step. We opened the doors and he started _whistling?_

When we reached our lockers I put in my combination, grabbed my books and turned towards him. "You seem exceptionally happy today. Care to explain?"

"Huh?"

We closed our lockers and headed to Homeroom. We took our seats and I placed my violin case on the floor. I rolled my eyes. _Is this boy really that oblivious?_

"Seriously?" I asked. "You've been bounding along and whistling your heart out. Now, it may just be sugar overload from the cookies, but I don't think that's the case."

He smirked, "Oh, Annabeth's coming this weekend. She's come to visit her mom, but she's staying with us. Mom _loves _her. Ever since they met when we were, what, fourteen? they've been best friends. When she found out that we were dating, I honestly think she was more excited about it than I was."

I grinned. I should have known that it was Annabeth that made him so happy. "I'd like to say I could meet her, but Mom and I are going to visit my grandparents this weekend." I paused for a bit as we opened the door to Miss Garcia's homeroom. "When did you last see her?"

"Last week," Percy said. "I was visiting her and her family before school started. Here," he opened up his workbook to the first page. On the inside of the cover was a picture clumsily attached with sticky-tape. "This is us when we were sixteen. We're with her step-brothers Bobby and Matthew. I think they turn thirteen next July."

I looked at the picture. The figure in the middle was obviously Percy. He had hold of one of the smaller boys in a headlock and the other had hold of Percy's shirt, holding him down. On his back was a blonde girl with a tanned, slender figure. Her arms were around his neck, her curly hair falling over her shoulders. They were all dressed in jeans and T-shirts. I frowned when I saw the one that Percy was wearing. It was orange, with a Pegasus and words printed in black. I could only make out the _Camp Hal– _because the rest was blocked out by one of the twins' arm.

"Camp Half-Blood," I muttered under my breath. Percy's eyes shot up and glanced at the picture again, probably wondering how I knew the rest of the name on his T-shirt.

"How do you know that?" he asked me. I remembered my dream from last night and it sent shivers down my spine.

"Dream," I said quietly.

"What–" Percy was cut off by the bell. "I'll talk to you in Greek."

He got out of his seat and rushed out the door to head to the pool. I, on the other hand, had Orchestra with Mrs Reed. So, I walked out the classroom, violin in hand, and glanced back down the hall at Percy's figure, weaving his way through the crowd. _He is one strange kid, _I thought.

I made my way to the Music Department, thinking about the photo, Percy's shirt and my dream, all of which were very strange.

Little did I know, that being strange was one thing that we definitely had in common, and being strange was the most dangerous thing about me.

* * *

I was tapping my pencil against my desk at a rapid pace, obviously annoying the hell out of the other students.

"Are you OK?" Percy asked me. We were supposed to be taking notes about Music Theory, but I already knew everything; I'm one of Goode's prized music students. Percy, on the other hand, was scribbling down notes about the difference between semiquavers and semibreves.

"Yeah," I sighed. "I just had a rough time in orchestra today."

"Really?" Percy asked. "What happened?"

"Just the stupid flute players," I muttered. "They don't seem to realise that just because I'm a row in front of them doesn't mean that I'm suddenly deaf. They're just saying the usual. It was most likely a stupid rumor that Kayleigh had passed around."

Percy grimaced, "Oooh, ouch."

"I know," I said. "I usually ignore stuff like that but it's hard when they're sitting _right behind me._"

"Don't worry about them," he smiled. "You know what they say about flute players."

I frowned. "No, I don't. What do they say about flute players?"

Percy looked surprised and thought for a moment. "To be honest," he said. "I have no clue what they say about flute players."

When he said this, I burst out laughing, which wasn't a good idea, seeing as though we were in a near-silent classroom.

"Miss Winnok, Mr Jackson?" Miss Crawford said, interrupting our conversation. She frowned at us, so I smiled weakly and gave her my best angel eyes. Honestly, they're so good that you can practically see the halo above my head.

"Yes miss?" I asked.

"Could you please arrange you date _after_ my music class?"

I glanced sceptically at Percy beside me and replied, "_Me? _Go out with _this _idiot? Honestly, I don't know if he'd even understand what I'm saying."

"Huh?" Percy said. Yeah, real charmer.

"See, the poor thing," I said, patting his shoulder. "I was just explaining the difference between a semibreve and a semiquaver. You wouldn't want him growing up ignorant would you?"

"I suppose not," Miss Crawford said, smiling. She was one of my favorite teachers; she could never stay mad for long if you're on her 'Good' list. Which I am, if you didn't get the memo. But she isn't a teacher you wouldn't want to cross.

Last year, a sophomore cheerleader was being snarky about Beethoven; she said that he was a _'totally ugly deaf dude who, like, had totally no fashion sense. And his hair? Like, eww! OMG! And his music, it's, like, _old_!_ Yeah, I know. What a - ,you know, I'm not even going to say what she is, I'll let you figure that one out for yourself. So anyway, Miss Crawford gave her three weeks detention. That definitely shut Miss Snarky Pants up.

"Yes," Miss Crawford continued, "'_Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity'_, to quote Martin Luther King Jr. However, I would appreciate it if you raised you hand to ask questions _Mr Jackson_."

She obviously aimed the last part at Percy, who looked up from doodling on his exercise book and said "Wha– oh, er, yes Miss."

"Thank you, Mr Jackson. So, a semibreve is length is equal to four beats in 4/4 time…"

I tuned out after that, writing random song lyrics in the back of my book and practicing my violin fingering on the table. It wasn't until Percy nudged my shoulder and waved a hand in front of my face that I realized that class had ended. I jumped up, said a quick goodbye to Miss Crawford and walked out the door, closely followed by Percy, who was admiring the array of guitars lined up by the desks.

"So what do we have next, Gabby?" he asked as we stopped in the hallway. He still seemed a bit confused about my conversation with Miss Crawford. It's really funny seeing him pout with his eyebrows all scrunched together.

"Well, we have Greek with Mr Gonzalez and then lunch," I replied. That certainly brightened his spirits; his face lit up and his pace quickened.

"_Finally_, a subject that I can ace," he said as we walked into Mr Gonzalez's classroom. I was surprised to see both Kayleigh Edwards _and _Scott Davies there. Mind you, they were both surrounded by their posse in Kayleigh's case or football friends in Scott's.

Kayleigh was flirting with a scared looking boy called Andre Rolland. Poor guy, I'd be scared too if Kayleigh was talking to me like that, batting her eyelashes and pouting in a way that was supposed to be cute, but looked more like a demented duck.

Scott, on the other hand, had his Greek textbook out. This _really _surprised me. _Scott _was reading a _textbook?_ _Wow, _I thought, _I really underestimated him. _Those thoughts were dismissed when I realized that he was reading the textbook upside down.

There weren't many other people in here; Greek wasn't a popular subject. Mr Gonzalez was a really strict teacher. And when I say strict, I mean _strict._ When I first started in Freshmen year, the class was almost in tears by the end of the term. If I couldn't speak Greek moderately well already, I would have dropped out _ages _ago.

"So," I said, diverting my attention back to Percy, who, conveniently, had sat as far away from Kayleigh as possible. I sat down next to him and got out my textbook. "You're gonna ace this class then?"

"Yep," he said proudly, popping the 'p', "_I_ am a Greek _champion._"

I cocked an eyebrow. _A Greek expert, huh? _"I wouldn't be so sure. Mr Gonzalez had my Freshmen class in tears because he's so horrible. No-one and I mean _no-one_ can ace his class. I mean, even _I_ only got an 83 on the end of year exam last year, and I'm a Greek freak."

"You, a Greek freak, I can't say I'm not surprised," Percy said frowning. "However, you," he jabbed a finger in my direction, "are definitely a music freak. Oh, thanks for that by the way. I may be a whiz when it comes to Greek, but ask me about Music Theory and I'm a complete novice."

"Why are you taking it then?"

"Mom thinks I need to expand my horizons. Annabeth agrees." He sighed and placed his head in his hands. "I am _so_ whipped."

I quickly muffled my laughter because Mr Tobias Gonzalez had walked into the room. He's about fifty and he's really tall with thick glasses and a permanent scowl plastered on his face. He always wore the same ugly puce colored bow tie over the top of one of his faded checkered shirts. His pants are always two sizes too big; the bottom of his trousers hide his freshly polished shoes. Sometimes, in the colder months, he even wore a twenty-year-old, moth eaten tweed jacket. A _tweed _jacket. Now, I'm no fashion freak, but let's just say that the outfit doesn't really work.

Mr Gonzalez never plays favorites, as Kayleigh learned last year. She tried to suck up to him, but it just earned her an afternoon of erasing textbooks. He always has high expectations; like we could always do better. A student has _never_ outsmarted him before because he always asks questions about the smallest details of pronunciation or, when we're studying history, myths and legends.

As he walked over to his desk, Mr Gonzalez analyzed the classroom. He sat down and placed his bag on the floor. Murmurs quickly spread throughout the classroom, which he shut up with a quick glare.

"We're back to school, seniors," Mr Gonzalez began. His voice was quiet, but stern and taunting. "As a welcome back gift for you, I have prepared a test for you. One written and one aural. You shouldn't have a problem with it; we covered it all last year. As soon as you complete it, place your finished test on my desk. Oh, and for our new students," he looked at Percy who raised an eyebrow, "good luck."

I gulped. This 'pre-term' test was probably part of last year's exam. Mr Gonzalez walked around the room handing out papers. He set the timer for thirty minutes, inclined his head toward the class and said "Begin."

The scratching of pens and pencils on paper immediately filled the room and I looked down at my paper. Luckily, the test wasn't more than three pages. Mr Gonzalez must have been feeling nice today. I heard that the pre-term test he gave to last year's seniors was five and a half pages long. I honestly don't know how he keeps this job.

After around twenty minutes, I had struggled through the first section, which was translation. I could tell that this wasn't going to be an easy year.

Just as I had started the multiple choice questions, I heard the creaking of someone getting up, and was surprised to see it was Percy, holding his test paper which was covered in a sort of scrawl. He walked over to Mr Gonzalez, who was reading _Gulliver's Travels_, and stood awkwardly in front of the desk. Mr Gonzalez let out a sigh, bookmarked his page and looked up at Percy. Percy, who was drumming his fingers on the table, slowly handed his test into the teacher's outstretched hand.

I saw Mr Gonzalez frown at the paper and say something to Percy, who looked shocked and shot a remark back. They engaged in their quiet argument for a couple of minutes until Percy left the desk with another sheet in hand. I didn't want him to see me staring, so I looked back at my test paper.

I scribbled in a few answers and messily shaded in the bubbles. I looked at the clock and saw that we had just ten minutes left of the lesson.

After skimming over my answers and making sure they were good enough, I glanced around the classroom. Scott Davies, who was sitting about two rows in front of me, was scowling at his test paper with a face the color of beetroot. That tends to happen when he gets angry or frustrated.

_There is no way he's going to survive this year,_ I thought to myself. _Poor guy. _I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

I looked to my left to see what Kayleigh was doing. Her test paper was completely blank; she hadn't even touched it. Instead, she had her phone out under the desk, probably so Mr Gonzalez couldn't see it, but I knew he could. The white glow illuminating her face was a bit of a giveaway. But Mr Gonzalez didn't seem to mind. I honestly think that he doesn't give a damn if anyone fails his class. If anything, I'd say that he rather liked it when people did, so he wouldn't care if Kayleigh never showed up for class at all.

There were only three other people in the classroom. I only knew one of them, and that's because it was Jin Hui Hu. No-one really knew much about Jin and so naturally, everyone knew who he was. I'd heard that he was an international student from China and that he was fluent in four languages and had a black belt in three kinds of martial arts. Did I believe it? No.

I glanced at the clock and saw that I had three minutes to spare. I walked up to the front of the classroom and placed my test on Mr Gonzalez's desk. He picked it up, gave it a once over and nodded. He shooed me away and I took my place at the back of the classroom.

Percy, who was leaning back in his seat with his hands behind his head, looked at me and asked me what I thought of the test.

"It wasn't the worst test I've done; I got stuck on the Greek to English translation though. What about you? I've never seen anyone get on Mr Gonzalez's bad side so quickly."

He laughed, short and humorless, "I'd finished the test and he thought I was cheating. As if. So he gave me a re-test to do. I finished that too ages ago, but I thought that he'd accept it if I waited until the end of class to hand it up."

"You finished the test that quickly?" I asked, surprised. No offence to him, but he wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. "Wow, you really _are _a Greek whiz."

"I _told _you," he insisted. Before I could reply, Mr Gonzalez's timer went off.

"OK, that's it. Time to hand up your tests." Mr Gonzalez's comment was replied by groans of the students who hadn't managed to complete the test, and the quiet _'Yes'_s' of the students who, just like me, wanted to get the hell out of that class.

Everyone made their way to the front of the room and placed their test papers in front of Mr Gonzalez, who was staring at his students with obvious dislike. As they retreated back to their desks, Mr Gonzalez said, "Tomorrow, in our double, we will be having our aural and oral tests. I will give you _only_ tonight to revise. You are dismissed."

Percy and I gathered out books as the bell rang for lunch. _Thank God,_ I thought, _I am _starved_!_

As we exited the classroom, Percy pulled me aside and said two words: "Your dream."

I stopped in my tracks. _My dream._ I had forgotten all about it until Percy mentioned it. I must have had a strange expression on my face, because Percy said, "Oh, you don't have to tell me, it's not important." I was pretty sure it was though.

I shrugged, not knowing what to say. When I finally opened my mouth, Kayleigh stepped in front of us, and judging by her clothes, it looked like she had a phobia of anything that wasn't pink.

"Hiya handsome," she said swaying her hips and twirling her hair. Percy didn't give her a second look, but nodded his head and said a quick "Hello". He turned back to me and looked like he was about to say something when Kayleigh cleared her throat with a high-pitched _hem hem._

"Do you want something?" Percy asked politely, while I tried to give him the _'Abort mission! Danger zone! Do not speak to Kayleigh Edwards' _signal, but being the obtuse idiot that he is, he obviously took my rapid coughs, my shaking head and hand movements as some kind of mild seizure.

Kayleigh looked at me like I was some kind of mutant. _She's one to talk, _I thought as I rolled my eyes and pulled a face at her. She didn't see it, because she was focused, once again, on Percy.

"Of course I want something," she said, winking in what I guess was supposed to be a flirtatious manner. "Can you guess what?"

"To get back on the mother-ship?" I said. Kayleigh sneered at me but then pouted at Percy.

"Um, I, er, kinda have to–" he started, trying to walk away. But Kayleigh, being the persistent little monkey that she is, she grabbed his hand and ran a finger up his arm. Percy's eyes said _'Abort! Help!'_ Poor guy.

"No, silly," Kayleigh said as she took a step toward him, "I want _you_."

Percy gulped but managed to splutter out, "Look, I have a girlfriend so…"

He seemed frozen in place as Kayleigh's eyes flashed with fury. I decided to step in at this moment, so I grabbed Percy's other arm and said "My deepest apologies Kayleigh, but we really need to be going now. Percy's stomach won't be able to hold out much longer without some proper nutrition."

Some emotion pasted itself across Kayleigh's face as she loosened her grip enough for Percy to yank his arm out of her iron clutches. He stumbled over to where I was standing and I smirked at Kayleigh, who looked like she was trying to do long division. Then her eyes bulged and she pointed at me.

"You," she stammered. She laughed loudly, causing passersby to stop and watch Kayleigh's sudden outburst. "_You're _his girlfriend."

I rolled my eyes at her. "No, don't be an idiot."

"Oh sweetheart," Kayleigh said, looking at Percy with a sympathetic expression, "why her? You could do so much better than her. Like me."

"Kayleigh," Percy said, "Gabby is _not _my girlfriend."

"Who is she then?" Kayleigh challenged. Immediately, Percy began ranting about Annabeth; Wise Girl this and Wise Girl that. How she was his best friend and how she's the most beautiful girl ever, with her curly blonde hair and grey eyes.

At the last part, Kayleigh's eyes narrowed. She glared at me, winked at Percy and strutted down the hall with whatever pride and dignity she had left.

"Well," I stated, "that got rid of her."

Percy smiled sadly, "It sure did."

I sat down next to Percy under our oak tree, munching on a banana. Percy was oddly quiet. I looked at him. He had a faraway look in his eyes. I suddenly noticed some features about him that I had overlooked before. His eyes were a duller color that I had first depicted and his nose was oddly crooked. It looked like it had been broken several times already. Grey circles outlined his eyes, probably from a lack of sleep. His hair was streaked with grey, which I had overlooked as the remains of a few grey hairs. He looked ill. I presumed that he hid it with a smile; he had fooled me.

Suddenly, his head turned in my direction and his eyes met mine. Looking straight at me he said, "Tell me about your dream."

I looked away from Percy's piercing gaze as I sighed and lowered my head. He was going to ask me this sooner or later but I still wasn't quite prepared to explain my dreams to him. I've only known him for a day.

Percy seemed to notice that I felt uncomfortable, so he looked away, back at his sandwich. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I'm not going to force you."

I gave him a small smile as he let out a breath and looked at me again. "I suffer from bad nightmares. _Really_ bad nightmares." Percy's voice cracked on the word 'really'. "They first started when I was about twelve, and I had no one to share them with. Well, I had Grover, but I didn't want to worry him. Then I went to camp. Before Annabeth and I became friends, I talked to Mr. Brunner, the camp director. A lot of kids there have experienced some kind of emotional trauma; me and Annabeth were two of them. Something," Percy paused, "an _accident_ happened at camp. We all had nightmares for ages. But Annabeth helped the most. We have to haul each other up if we fall down. There was a time when we didn't think we were going to recover."

He looked at me and said, "That's why I want here last year. I was recovering."

I smiled sadly and nodded. Percy sighed and was about to get up when I grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. He looked at me with a questioning expression.

"My dream," I began, "It was cold. Very cold and very dark," I took a shaky breath as I continued, "I was attacked, but I couldn't see be what. It was…like…_claws_ were tearing at my back. It _hurt_, so badly. Then I saw a light. A small one, but it was there. And it was warm. I wanted to move towards it, but I couldn't. My feet were stuck to the ground. And then it disappeared. Gone. Poof." I looked at Percy's expressionless face, "And I was alone. Again. I could feel the blood dripping down my back. I was dying."

Percy looked down and frowned. "How did you know about my T-shirt? You said that it was part of your dream."

"Before I died, the dream changed. I was in a wood. It was red and gold and there was light streaming through the trees. It was very _pretty_. I sat up and looked around. Next to me was a girl. She had black spiky hair. She wore all black and she looked about, what, fifteen? Next to her was a boy. He had black hair too and very pale skin. He was wearing a black aviator's jacket I think. He was also wearing a skull ring." Percy's eyes widened when I finished describing the boy and girl. I dismissed and thoughts and resumed telling my story. "On my other side, was you." _That _got Percy's attention. "Did you know that you talk in your sleep?"

"What? What did I say?"

"_'Annabeth_,'" I smiled as Percy's face flushed a deep red. "Anyway, you were wearing that T-shirt. The _Camp Half-Blood_ one. Then, I heard a sound so I went towards it. It was nighttime now. Then someone told me to stop, so I did. I tried to call out for help but I couldn't, and when I looked back at you and the others, you were gone. I tried to run but I couldn't. The voice told me to stop again and then that I stand alone. Then it told me '_You are power. You will stand down. You will not fight, else those closest to your heart will pay for your mistakes._' It told me to sleep. It told me not to fight it. And as I fell asleep, it tortured me. Then I woke up."

Percy and I looked at each other. I didn't know what he was going to say. He got up from his crooked sitting position, helped me up and said, "Do you want to come to my place tomorrow night?"

* * *

**Thanks for reading everyone!**

**I'll update again next week (hopefully) with Chapter 4. I'll try and finish writing Chapter 16 to post on DHS.**

**Please let me know what you think. Feel free to PM me and ask questions! I'm a very friendly person.**

**Kisses,**

**Daphne**


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